I have a couple of observations. Early in this thread you made it very clear that you were not interested in any further discussion about health testing.
i came here to get constructive input that can help make a difference to my dogs
for example:
i feel like i need to get more fat in grace's diet
she's been getting cottage cheese, olive oil or eggs over her kibble
what else would be good sources of fat?
Bullybug then provided the following links in response to your question
http://www.esmondrott.com/faq_rearing.htm - Loads of info from a great rottie breeder
http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+2108&aid=916
http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+2106&aid=915
http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+2109&aid=840
I added: Here is another link providing valuable information on the care and nutrition of lactating dog Mums:
http://www.akc.org/breeders/resp_bre...ndfeeding2.cfm
In terms of your question on sources of additional fat (taken from the referenced article): Grease, lard, tallow and vegetable oil may be given at 1T per cup of food.
I don't know whether Bullybug had the references on hand, or looked them up for you, but I personally spent some time trying to find an informative and reputable resource dealing with care and nutrition of bitches and puppies. Others added helpful advice relevant to a giant breed new litter such as not to leave the puppies with Gracie all the time, lest she accidentally squash one.
None of these contributions was acknowledged -- had they been, it may well have changed the tenor of the posts in general. Instead you attended only to the posts you interpreted as criticising you or making 'dictatorial demands'. Northernmastiff, Bonesnsasha and others, in response to your feedback, then attempted to move on to different key aspects of raising healthy, happy, well socialised puppies, successfully placing them in best possible homes and ensuring they have maximum protection for life.
I absolutely believe you love your dogs and will do the best you can in providing good homes for your pups. But here is a true story that happened to a friend of mine which illustrates the kinds of fears we have on your(and the puppies') behalf, and why we are asking about contracts and so on. Anywho, much like yourself, my friend had a stunning girl (in this case a harlequin Great Dane) from whom she wanted a puppy. ( This girl had not been shown or health/temperament tested), but to the knowledgeable eye seemed to have very few conformation faults and was sweet, gentle and friendly. After much searching, my friend found a beautiful mantle stud, who was not finished but had a great pedigree and points toward his championship. The whelping went well, and the puppies thrived -- getting some socialisation from my friend's kids, cats and dogs. When it came time to find homes for the puppies, she did screen via phone conversations, but nothing in-depth. She didn't want to do contracts because she thought it was officious, and people should be able to do what they wanted in terms of spaying/neutering and showing/not showing their pups. She said she would simply ask all the buyers to contact her if they could no longer keep the dog/pup. Fortuitously, she did have the puppies all micro-chipped.
To make a long story short, including her own 'keeper', four of the pups did very well in their homes. The three other families have kept in touch with my friend. I bought a beautifully show marked Harle, and I'll discuss him later. However, my friend belatedly discovered that one of the female puppies had in fact been purchased by a broker, who sold it to a puppy mill as a breeder. My friend had no recourse as she had no contract. Over the years, three have shown up in shelters -- drastically underweight and showing signs of abuse and other medical issues. After spending hundreds of dollars restoring them to health and providing desperately needed love and obedience training, she was able to rehome two. One was so traumatised he was unsuitable for rehoming and she has kept him ever since. A tenth owner phoned my friend out of the blue one day and said his bitch had had an 'oops' litter with a mixed breed dog at a dog park (he thought her heat cycle had ended) and wanted help in placing the puppies. The final owner emailed to say that his dog had bitten his child, so they put the dog to sleep. In fact, (sorry to drag in temperament and health testing again), varying degrees of temperament issues emerged amongst several. (My dog became fear aggressive toward people, hence I was never able to show him. He died at the age of six after struggling with Degenerative Myelopathy (a devastating hereditary illness -- which you can now test for) for over 2 1/2 years. Near the end, his care was taking 4 -6 hours a day. (That was the kind of possibility I meant with my earlier question about 'genetic legacy', not that they would not grow up to be fantastic pets who would make a huge contribution to the lives of their owners or even society in general).
My main point here is that my friend's experience was, unfortunately, not that unusual amongst new or' one time' breeders who do not screen rigorously and ask for signed contracts with the clauses people have suggested to protect your pups. So that is why people were encouraging thorough screening and contracts so strongly.
Finally -- and I've read through the posts several times now -- after some strong opinions were expressed about the health testing and we moved on, the suggestions I see are couched in terms of "...my suggestion is" "my advice is..." "I think/believe' 'I'm all for..." and (If it were me)" I would... " -- not phrased in dictatorial, autocratic, fascist terminology.Additionally people (including me) asked questions that were intended to help you think through important issues in deciding what you ultimately choose to do or not do. The questions Northernastiff posed are indeed what a knowledgeable, experienced puppy buyer will/should ask you. If I were you and I was finding good homes for my puppies, if a buyer didn't ask at least some of these questions, it would be a red flag to me.
So my last question to you is -- is it more important to you to carry on a combative argument, or to get the most input/feedback you can glean on the welfare of Gracie and the future of your puppies? If the latter, please let us know what else you would like information about that you would find helpful.
